BOYLE HEIGHTS–Film Screening and Discussion: EAST LA INTERCHANGE: The Past and Present of an Immigrant Community

October 30, 2017 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

BOYLE HEIGHTS–Join us for a special screening of East LA Interchange, a documentary about how Boyle Heights survived the freeways that threatened to destroy their proud, immigrant community, followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker and scholars featured in the film on October 30th.

In English with Spanish subtitles. The panel will be translated for Spanish speakers. Free event. Parking is available onsite. East LA Interchange follows the evolution of working-class, immigrant Boyle Heights from multicultural to predominantly Latino and a center of Mexican-American culture. Boyle Heights was once far more diverse than most U.S. cities; Latinos, Asians, African-Americans, and the largest settlement of Jews west of Chicago lived and worked together side by side. Targeted by government policies, real estate laws and California planners, the neighborhood survived the building of the largest and busiest freeway interchange system in North America. The panel discussion will place the issues of today – multiculturalism, immigrant rights, social and environmental justice, community activism, gentrification, and institutional racism – in historical context to better understand their continued impact on the neighborhood. Will Boyle Heights, like many cities across the country, survive the next round of challenges from development and gentrification?